Refrigeration apparatus



E. T. FORD.

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS. APPLICATION'FILED JAN. 29, 1919'.

" Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

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E. T, H181).

REFRIGERATION APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, 1919.

Patented Apr. 25, 19221.

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.7 mm mm Q f air? E. T. FORD. REFRIGERATION APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MN. 29, I919- I 1A1 3 844 f Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

3 $HEETSSHEET 3- ETHELIBERT '1. F031), DE LOS ANGELES. CALIFGRNIA,ASSIGNOR TU FOEDARTIG REFRIGERATION COMPANY, OF LOS ANGELES, CAL-IIEOBNIA, A COMORATION or oemron sis.

REFRIGERATION AIEPABATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

implication filed January 29, 1919. Serial No. 273,706.

T0 (111 'llf/lmll- 52. may conccm:

Be it known that I E'rmcnnnnr T. Form, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Retrigeration Apparatus, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for and processes of refrigeration,and it has for it object to provide an improved apparatus and improvedprocess whereby arelatively increased amount of potential or refrigerant may be produced with a proportionately compact and simple andinexpensive installation, in which repairs 'may be made with maximumconvenience anda minimum of delay and interruption in use of theapparatus in carrying on of the process,- in which the circuitof therefrigerating system may be kept free from obstruction or impairment byscale or other foreign substances, and inwhich an eliicient andautomatic control and operation may be carried on or conducted, andwhich will be general] y superior in convenience and responsiveness andliability in use and practice, and in general eliiciency andserviceab'ility.

l/Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists inthe novel and useful provision formation, combination. association andrelative arrangement and construction of parts, members and features aswell as sequence and relation of steps and acts, all ashereinsfterdescribed, shown in the drawings, and finally pointed out in claims.

In the drt. wings;

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly (liagramma-tic, ofrefrigeratingapparatus which may be used in practicing the invention; Figure 2 is adetail transverse sectional view of the game, taken upon the line m--mFigure 1, parts being in elevation;

Figure 3 is a. detail vertical sectional view taken upon the line m ;sFigure 2, and 'lookin in the direction of the a Jended arrows; I

Figure 4c is adetell transverse hor1zontal sectional view, taken uponthe line ifl -wlj Figure 3, and looking in the direction of the trollingvalve shown in Figure l; and,

Figure 6 is a similar view of each of two 55 filters shown in Figure- 1.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the somereference characters.

Referring with particularity to the drawings, A (lesignates'a-motor-driven compres- W sor, B designates a condenser operatlvelyconnected therewith, and C designates a coil of pipes to whichrefrigerant- 'isfpassed from the condenser, the. spentor'partislly'spent refrigerant returning fromvsuch coil to the 65'compressor. D designates a filter disposed in line between the condenserand the coil C, and E designates a filter disposed in the line betweenthe compressor and the coil of pipe C. F designates acont'rolling valve,to

densed into liquid form and passedin liquid 80.

form to the coil (1. In the coil C the liquid HO; evaporates and coolsthe coil Cdue to the latent heat which the S0 takes up in phssing from aliquid to a gasafter which the spent vapor is drawn oil and a compressedin the compressor A. Lubricating oil is also placed within the circuitof the apparatus, and the same floats upon the condensed refrigerant inthe condenser. It

is drawn over into the compressor from the so condenser throughlubrication connections G, and serves to tightly seal the compressorandprevent leakages and losses in it and in its action. Within thecondenser 6 1s provided; a coil 7 within which cold water ciro5 culates,from any suitable source, for the v purpose of condensing therefrigerant compressed and passed to thhcondenser by the compressor.

The compressor having a casing or housing 8 Within which is mounted arotor 9 upon s shaft 10 disposed v eccentrically or" the casing 8", andwhich may be direct-driven by the motor 8, or operated from any otherwiteble or convenient source 16s of power. Playing radially of therotors; are a plurality of impellers which co-ect 1n close Workingengagement with the inner some Apr. 25; 1922.:

in gaseous form, 7 5

r cs

A is of the rotary type wgl l' the casing 8, and with the end walls tand serve to act upon and compress seous spent refrigerant drawn intothe casing H" by an intake pipe l2, so as to eX- pel the compressedgaseous refrigerant through the discharge pipe lI-S which leads to thetop of the using 6 of the condenser, where a suitable valve llisprovided- The means (r for connecting up the compressor with thecondenser and providing lubricat ing oil for the compressor, comprisesa. pipe leading from the condenser casing 6, above the level ofthecondensed refrigerant e intake side of the casing 8 of the I the samebeing (cn'trolled by a ondenser ll the condensed and *rigerant passesthrough a pipe with a controlling valve 18 to i f; and it will beunderstooc coil likewise leads into and l the pipe ii, which extends toxke oi the compressor. vo filters D which filter the refreshed nsedrefrigerant in the pipe 17, and i iausted or spent refrigerant, which is'i through the pipe 12, comprise each entral casing member 19' and upperand casing members 20 and 21, respec- A connection nipple is providedeiving an inlet or outlet pipe, within the chamber 2th and a threadednipple 23 is lil-ccwisc proviced for a similar purpose in thecentral}chamber l9. fil hin the central ch21 oer and. extending com relyfrom top in thereof. a loraminous cage or r e of less diameter than theupper and micdle chambers and through which the uppi and lower chambersalone communicate 'h the middle chamber, and which opens its top intothe upper chamber and at its on into the lower chamber. in which latterase there is provided a i 'alve seat 25 with which cooperates a valve 26in the lo chamber Ell. and having a suitable stem cqu ivalent 2ithreaded in a detachable nn member '28 from the chamber 21, and

hat l'lZUlCl-"XllQOl 29 below such chamber wh l j the valve may beoperated to establisl terminate communication between the middle andlower chambers: A screw plug 30 closes a suitable opening in the bottomplate 28, and wh n detaiiched permits of access to the bottom chamber toclean the same of any accumulated scale or other matter. In action, therefrigerant, whether spent or recompressed passes through the chambers120 and 19, and likewise through the trap or cage which in: prisons anddirects to t lower chamber 21 any scale or other matter. Normally, thevalve 26 is ed so that these. creign substances may be received withinsuch chamber 21. The valve F comprises a main valve ing-alhaving avalveseat the lower orifice ot' a passage 33 communicating at its upper endwithan outlet' port 34 and at its lower end with an inletport 33.(lo-acting with such seat 32 is a valve 35 having a stem 36 smaller thanthe passage 33 and rising through a continuation 36 0i such passage -33into a diaphragm chamber 37 where it is connected by a slip joint 38with a coupling 39 applied centrally to a diaphragm ll) spanning suchchamber 3?, such diaphragm being normally urged downwardly by a lightcoil spring ll surroumling the upper extension 42 of the coupling 39,which extension is 2lC(( IIlIl10(l&1tL(l\Yltlllll a hollow ca 43 u onthe u i )er wall of the dia )hra 'm toward itsseat by the spring lG, thecom pression of which may be varied by threaded adjustment of thetubular member 45. A screw cap 49 is threaded into the lower end of theextension 44.

In operation, the compressed refrigerant passes through the valvemechanism F, entering at the port 33 and exiting through the port 34-.its flow being determined by the low pressure variations in the coil 0,or by the suction" of the expanding refrigerant which gasitics in thecoil C, As greater demand for refrigerant in such coil is automaticallyregistered by suction upon the diaphragm 40 through the passage 36", the'diaphragm ispulled down so as to downwardly actuate the stem 36andwalve 35, against the spring 46, and further unseat the valve 35, sothat a large flow of refrigerant may take place from the port 33 throughthe passage 33 and poi-i 3-H into the coil C. A reverse operation takesplace when decreased demand occurs, the diaphragm rising and permittingthe spring 4-6 to elevate the valve 35 further toward its seat. reducingthe flow oi rct'rigcrant through the ports 33 and passage 33". Thisregulating valve thus automatically supplies to the coil C the amount ofrefrigerant proportionate to the demands at said coil. The slip joint 38prevents disruption or breakage or injury to the valve mechanism in thecase of sudden decrease of demand upon such valve mechanism. 1

The method of use and advantages of the improved refrigeratingapparatus, and the procedure incident to practicing the invention as tothe improved process of refrigeration, all in accordance withthe'present invcnr mi. and with reference to the 9.000!!!- paras-a t tusand carrying on of the process, the spent or partially spent refrigerantis continually drawn into the compressor A through the pipe 12 and thefilter E. from the working coil C, and in such compressor is compressedand passed over to the condenser B through the pipe 13 where itiscondensed into liquid form by the cooling action of the circulat ingwater in the coil pipe 7 within the con denser casing 6. Thence thecondensed refrigerant passes through the pipe 17 and the filter D to theregulating yalv e and regulator F, where, under proper regulationproportionate to the demand in the coil C, such refrigeration passes tosaid coil where it is expanded, and gasities being thence withdrawn, asaforesaid, through the filter E and into the compressor A. Thelubricating oil drawn into the compressor, in its act-ion through thepipe connections G, keeps the compressor thoroughly sealed so as toprevent any escape or back slip of the refrigerant during its subjectionto compres sion.- This compressor, so lubricated, operates at muchhigher'efiiciency, in proportionto size and expense of compressorinstallation, than can any compressor of the ordinary horizontal actingreciprocating piston type Also, the condenser may vreadily be isolatedfrom the line by shutting offthe valves 14 and 18, in case repairs areto be made, and likewise repairs may be made to the compressor withoutthe necessity of tearing down the condenser construction as is necessaryin that type of refrigerating apparatus in which the compressor unit iscontained within the condenser casing. The filters always maintain aclear filtered strained condition of the refrigerant, eliminating fromthe line-of the refrigerant any scale or other extraneous substances,all of which may be removed from the collecting chambers 27 at theopenings normally close by the plugs 30.

T he regulating valve and regulator F causes the valve member 35 toalways be properly positioned to permit the flow tothe coil C ofthe'proper amount of refrigcondenser casing to the compressor casingthrough the means G of course returns, in its excess. to the condensercasing, inter-mixed with the compressed refrigerant, through the pipe13, and floats ultimately upon the condensed liquid refrigerant whichoccupies the lower levels of said condenser casing.

The condenser casing is thus used to house v a suflicient supply oflubricating oil for use in the compressor, such 011 circulating throughthe pipe 15, the pipe 13, and the,

condenser and compressor casings.

It is apparent that many changes and variations may be made, withrespect to the foregoing description and statements and the accompanyingdrawings, in the practice of the invention, without departing from thetrue spirit thereof.

Having thus disclosed my invention, 1 claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent:

1. A refrigerating apparatus, including the following named elements incombination, a condenser comprising a casing having a refrigerant outletport adjacent the base thereof, and having an outlet port above thenormal level of the condensed refrigerant, said casing likewise beingprovided with a refrigerant intake port in the cover member thereof; acoil pipe in said casing, having an inlet and outlet at the bottom ofsaid casing for receiving a cooling fluid; a compressor, exterior to thecondenser casing, for fluid refrigerant, having an inlet port and-adelivery port for the refrigerant, and an inlet port for lubricat- "ingoil, there being piping establishing comfrigerant outlet port in thecondenser and the refrigerant intake port in the compressor, there beinga filter included 1n said pipe coil circuitbetween the working unitandthe compressor to'prevent slugs of refrigerant being thrown into thecompressor;"'said compressor being proyidd with a rotor and l-15impeller vanes co-actring with'the inner Wall of the compressor casing,said rotorbeing; mounted to rotate eccentrically within the 2. Arefrigerating apparatus, including the following named elements incom-bina vided with a refri erant intake port in the cover memberthereof; a coil pipe in said casing, having an inlet and outlet at thebottom of said casing for receiving a cooling fluid; a compressor,exterior to the con-' denser casing, for fluid refrigere'nt having aninlet port and a delivery port for the refrige'rzinn and :in iniet portfor lubricating oil there being piping establishing coninnnicationbetween the oil outlet port in the coznhmser casing. an inlet port foroil in the compressor, the refrigerant outlet port of the compressor andrefrigerant intake port of the condenser; a working pipe coil having itsends communicating with the re frigorzmt outlet port in the condenserand the refrigerant intake port in the compressor; rcguiating-yaivethrough which the refrigerant passes to the working unit, and

a filter included within such circuit between the working unit and thecompressor to prevent sings of refrigerant being' thrown into theeornpixssor, and another filter being inchulcd within said circuitbetween the condenser mni the working unit to prevent clog ging of thewire; valve means likewise being provided in the piping circuits forisolating the condenser from the compressor.

in testin'iony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification inthe presence of 25 two subscribing witnesses.

E'IIIELBERT '1. FORD. Witnesses J. Sliver, EDNA TURNER.-

